In these tough times
by roxyroxas1313
Summary: Voldemort's reign of terror is finished and the war was won by the Order of the phoenix. Now a post-war Hermione Granger is suffering with a self imposed isolation in the Unspeakable department. One day she is assigned a case pertaining to mysterious creature attacks happening all over the UK. Can she find the culprits and maybe in the process find something more?


" _The sword is meant to be in my vault; how did you get it?" She hisses; her breath smelling like a rotten corpse. "Did you and your friends steal it?"_

" _I didn't-" The girl opens her mouth to protest, but a knee to her ribs knocks the breath from her lungs; tears start to fall from her eyes._

" _I don't believe you!" The death eater screeches out, sounding hauntingly similar to a banshee._

" _Please!" She whispers in a desperate reply to sound convincing._

 _Black starts to seep into the girl's sight as the seemingly psychotic woman above her cackled madly in reply. 'Any moment now,' she thought, 'I'm going to die from this never ending pain.' The last conscious thing she recalled thinking next was hoping her friends are alright and safe far away from this living hell._

Brown eyes snap open to the sound of panting; she wipes the dripping sweat from her brow and waits to regain her bearings from the latest nightmare. After a moment she is calmed down enough to glance at the window and see the moon still hanging in the pitch black sky. She sighs softy at the sight and resents the fact she won't be getting anymore sleep tonight.

Sliding from the bed, Hermione's feet touch the wooden floor; she ignores the biting cold and moves to dress in some different clothes. Her work robe plus a muggle suit would have to be okay for today. It is not until the bedroom door shuts behind her does the night become disrupted with a sudden noise. As she makes her way down the hallway in the apartment, she hears paws tapping on the wood floor in front of her. She notices her cat Crookshanks walking over to greet her.

She presses a reassuring hand to the cats head. He purrs in pleasure before relaxing as she pets him around the ears. "Thanks, Crooks." She says her voice sounding slightly raspy. The cat chooses to meow in acknowledgment, he knows how much his master needs and appreciates him.

Deciding she had nothing better to do she wanders over to the kitchen area and pulls out caned food from the cupboard for the cat's breakfast. After the deed was done she grabbed her satchel and pulled her wand out from the holster in her sleeve to apparate to the British Ministry of Magic.

Once there she noticed nobody was afoot clogging up the area as they did in the actual working hours employees shared. This change was expected though nobody wanted to be here of all places during this godawful early morning hour. Stepping into the lift, Hermione took hold of one of the straps hanging down in preparation for the descent that follows. As the gate slides shut her stomach lurches as they go threw the dark tunnels of the Ministry. With a sudden stop she takes a breath as the one other occupant quickly scurries out of the lift. The gate clicks shut again and the process starts over as they descend even deeper into the hidden depths of the building.

"Level nine." The operator broadcasted dolefully.

 **The Department of Mysteries**

The words seemed to stare down at her from the overhead sign but she decided to ignore them. The hall grows darker with each step; the occasional torches being the only flickering light source nearby. Her shoes squeak loudly, way too loudly against the pristine stone floors. She watches her own breath as she exhales; despite the warm temperature outside this department always manged to stay freezing to the bone somehow. Although, you do get used to the lack of warmth like she did after you work here for a while.

While passing trough the creeping quietness of the corridors she glances at all of the empty offices former unspeakables held. Half of the department is filled with people conducting research and various projects. The other half is comprised of forgotten rooms and dusty crevices filled to the brim with all sorts of grim. This is a place you definitely under no circumstances want to be lost without a clue in. Take that piece of advice from someone who did at one point get lost in here before.

"Granger, what in Merlin's bloody name are you doing here?" Saul Croaker narrowed his worn out blue eyes at his subordinate.

Hermione turned in recognition and strolled over towards him, "I decided to come in early today. Is there a problem with that, Sir?"

Croaker groaned in annoyance with his underling; earlier in the night when she was still here he had to forcefully remove her from the department. He's never met a workaholic quite similar to this one who was currently in the process of eagerly digging herself a early grave. He didn't want to get into a argument with her though; he was much too tired now for that.

With a sigh of defeat he replied, "Whatever, since you are here anyway take a look at this new case file sent over. Normally the Creatures department or hell even the Auror office would handle this type of thing but they are really stumped with it." Once he concluded talking he stretched his hand out to give the documents over.

Hermione accepted the folder and sat down in a chair to go through everything. The case was about a theorized grouping of unknown creatures mysteriously attacking citizens not just in England but all over the United Kingdom. The victims never survived the attacking and the bodies found are disfigured to the point the coroner couldn't even identify them by simply looking at them. In addition, the people who worked on the case all noted that the attacks span back quite a few years in many parts of the country. The only two connections in each of the cases are excessive claw markings covering the bodies of each victim found. As well as a weird foul decaying odor that stuck to the air even after the bodies were removed from the crime scenes.

Subsequently finishing up reading Hermione looked up to address Croaker, "It certainly seems intriguing enough."

Croaker mischievously smiled, "I'm glad you find it interesting enough because starting now I want you to look into this on my behalf," He stated, "Take detailed notes of everything you find and report back in to me regularly."

Hermione frowned and crossed her arms in displeasure, "I can't I have other projects I'm working on right now."

"Well you don't anymore this task takes first priority; I expect you to look into this starting right now." Croaker made a shooing motion towards the door signaling the end of this brief discussion.

"Of course, Sir." Hermione grumbled out in compliance as she moved to exit the room.

Once she escaped the clutches of her boss she trudged over to sit down at her assigned desk space. Reaching into her bag she pulled out a new sheet of paper with a quill. She began to write down everything she knew so far about the case and what to do next with this job pushed off onto her. The first part was rather obvious, she had to find someone who knows all kinds of magical creatures. The first person that came to mind is her old friend Hagrid who was the Care of Magical Creatures professor briefly while she was still attending Hogwarts. She jotted down Hagrids name quickly and rolled up the parchment to place it in her satchel.

As she pulled the strap of the bag onto her shoulder, she glanced at the little muggle clock ticking away on the desk. It was now was about six in the morning so she quickly deduced Hagrid would be up and about by now to take care of the creatures he cares for. This provided Hermione with the perfect opportunity to ask him some questions. She departed from her desk to locate a place in the department she could successfully apparate out from. Once there she pictured the gate in front of Hogwarts in her mind and cast the spell to take her directly there.

* * *

Hogwarts was a place Hermione greatly cherished for a very long time now. It was the place that first signified she was indeed apart of the magical world plus it's where she met her best friends Harry and Ron. This castle is filled to the brim with the happy memories from her youth. It also held memories she'd rather forget though. This was where the final battle against Voldemort took place and it signified what happened between the two sides in the war. That thought brought many painful memories to the forefront of her mind as she stood still to gaze at the reconstructed castle ahead.

"Are you going to come in or are you just going to stand there all day?" McGonagall asked; breaking Hermione out of the daze she found herself in.

 _'I see that the detection wards are still functioning quite well,'_ Hermione thought with a shrug as she strolled threw the now opened gate entrance, "Hello, Professor."

"You don't have to call me professor anymore, Ms. Unspeakable," McGonagall offhandedly quipped, "I haven't taught you in a while now and I thought we we're passed that point in our friendship."

Hermione smiled just a little bit at her previous mentor, "You're right, Minerva. We passed that; old habits just die hard."

"I can see that, dear." Minerva replied as she lead them towards her office inside the castle. The room she now uses belonged to the previous beloved headmaster, Dumbledore. Minerva confessed a while back she was at first uncomfortable with the idea of taking his office for herself. Once it was made clear by the ministry she was the new acting headmistress though she had no choice but to take it. In the span of four years she's grown to be thankful and appreciative of the bigger available space.

Not much has changed inside the room; the only real change being Dumbledore's little trinkets and artifacts weren't sprinkled around anymore. In addition, Minerva decided to add in her own personal collection of reading material and take out all the books that weren't really needed anymore. The place was filled with that new book odor that Hermione just relished in. Minerva really made the place her own with all these seemingly little tweaks and adjustments.

"Would you like some coffee or tea?" Minerva offered to Hermione as she took a seat at her desk filled with papers in desperate need of attending to. Being headmistress has its own set of drawbacks it seems.

"Coffee is fine, thanks." Hermione replied, taking a seat as well but instead choosing to sit in one of the available chair in front of the cluttered desk space.

"I'm assuming you still take yours black," Minerva remarked with a small smile. Hermione just nodded and waited for Minerva to finish giving the order off to a house elf.

"Now that's out of the way may I ask... What are you here for exactly," Minerva inquired, "I'm not trying to be intrusive in any way but I am curious because it's not like you to come here out of the blue." She finished with a glance over at the suddenly nervous woman in front of her.

Hermione fidgeted in her seat under the uncomfortable inquiry look she was receiving, "I came here to see, Hagrid," She responded, "I have some questions for him pertaining to a magical creature of some sort."

"Is this creature by any chance dangerous or related to something else that is?" Minerva asked as she peered over her glasses to study the now unmoving form of the rigid woman in front of her.

"You know I can't say." Hermione chooses to reply with a bit of malice slipping into her voice.

"I'm just trying to look after Hagrid," Minerva added softy, "It comes with the job of being a headmistress after all; I have to make sure that the staff doesn't get evolved with anything potentially harmful to them and by extension the school."

"I know Minerva," Hermione reassured once she reeled in her sudden impulsive anger, "If it helps I can say this much he won't be getting mixed up into anything. I'm just going to be asking him some simple questions."

"That's reassuring to hear, dear." Minerva said as a awkward silence surrounded them.

A pop suddenly sounded in the room signaling the house elf was back. Minerva looked over to greet him with a smile. The elf smiled back at the warm acknowledgment and handed the refreshments off to the pair of recipients. Minerva dismissed him afterwords with a thanks and turned her attention back on Hermione. "Hagrid should be finished with his morning routine by now. You can go visit him if you'd like."

Hermione nodded and placed the cup she just received on the edge of Minerva's desk, "I'll be taking my leave then. Thank you for the coffee."

Hermione left the office abruptly to get away from the prying eyes of Minerva. Every time the headmistress looked at someone that way it felt like she could see straight threw them. It was uncomfortable to say the least. On the other hand the quaint corridors of the castle didn't seem to change one bit. The portraits still stare as you walked and the residual magical energy clings delicately to the air all around. It's relaxing to see that even though a lot of things have shifted massively in these past few years somethings still stayed the same no matter what. Hogwarts will always stand to be a safe heaven for those that wish to learn and practice magic freely.

Hagrid's home, or as some would call it a hut, was located near the enchanted forest. The forest always spooked Hermione ever since she was a kid with it's gloomy and standoffish nature of atmosphere. She didn't know how Hagrid continued to live near it comfortably for all these years.

"'Ermione is that you? What are ya' doing out here so early?"

Hermione swiveled around at the sound of her name and saw Hagrid marching outwards from the trees. She quickly took notice of the familiar raggedy appearance he had with the worn down vest and long shaggy looking beard.

"I need to talk with you about something." Hermione simply stated in response. Hagrid nodded and led them into the living room in his home to have some sense of privacy for the impending conversation.

Hermione did a quick scan of the room, and noticed all of Hagrid's things laying around the place. Most of the items set around were tools to help him deal with the creatures under his care but others were of a personal nature like the few photographs hanging on the walls. She noted one of the pictures was of the hippogriff Buckbeak she and Harry saved back in their third year at Hogwarts.

Hagrid took a seat down near his small shoddy coffee table and smiled at the witch standing in front of him, "Now what's so important that you came all this way just to see little ol' me?"

"I need your opinion on these marks," Hermione said getting right to the point as always while she pulled out a sketch of the claw marks from her satchel for Hagrid to look at, "Do you have any idea what could have left these?"

Hagrid accepted the paper offered up to him and carefully analyzed it for a few minutes. "It looks like some kind of wolf," He dejectedly answered with a frown now present on his face, "Maybe its a werewolf or something; sorry I can't be much of a help."

"At least you gave it a try, thank you." Hermione conveyed a sense of comfort with a shy smile to try and lift his mood again. In the process she took the sketch back from Hagrid and placed it safely inside her satchel.

"Ya' could ask the Lovegood girl," Hagrid offhandedly mentioned as Hermione started to make her exit, "She's pretty popular nowadays in America for her creature knowledge."

"I'll think about it. Thanks again, Hagrid." Hermione waved goodbye to the half giant and attempted to quickly excuse herself from his home before he had the chance to continue the conversation. She really wasn't in the mood to stick around and chat about anything not pertaining to her work.

"How's 'Arry and Ron doing?" Hagrid asked rather innocently.

Hermione stopped moving completely at the mention of their names. She just stood stalk still, rooted to the place in front of the front door. She automatically then began to recall in her mind the last almost okay conversation she had with her childhood friends.

 _"The annual Hogwart's ball was a time of celebration for everyone. This commemoration marked the date that the dark lord Voldemort was vanquished and the wizarding world was thus saved by the golden trio. The trio lead by Harry Potter The Boy Who Lived, managed to strike the most killing blows dealt onto the dark lord. Thanks to them we now live in a time of peace and prosperity."_

 _Leave it to the Daily Prophet to make it sound like the world was purged clean of all wrongdoings in one single day. In truth the remaining Death Eaters fled from the UK to seek asylums elsewhere. Thus, all the trio really accomplished by vanquishing The Man With No Nose was spike the crime rate all over in different countries. It's not like the press would actually tell it's readers that little tidbit of fact though._

 _Hermione sighed loudly as she crumbled up the garbage paper some called news. Leaving the party to read this nonsense on the balcony turned out to be pointless after all. Nonetheless it beats standing around in a ballroom actively avoiding the press at all costs. A girl could only take so many outfit scrutinies in one evening after all. Seriously, what was so scandalous about a woman wearing a nice suit?_

" _Mione' what are you doing out here all by yourself?" Harry Potter questioned as he walked forward to join his estranged friend standing at the railing._

 _Hermione smiled at the presence of her friend. "Oh you know, Harry. Just the usual avoiding Rita Skeeter and all her gossip cronies."_

" _Ah, I can't blame you for that," He smirked in return, "She seems to be even more intrusive since the war ended. The other day for example after I publicly announced my engagement to Gin she came asking me if I ever considered hooking up with other women before I officially settled down."_

" _Congratulations on that by the way, I just read all about it on page two."_

" _What my engagement or that I was asked if I would date other women?"_

" _You know what I meant, Harry."_

 _The conversation soon drifted to an awkward silence after that. Neither participant knew what to say next. The last time they even spoke to one another was months ago and that was only because Ginny stepped in to force them into having dinner together._

 _Things became this strained over the previous year once the war ended. Tensions ran high between the golden trio members and they've each said some dreadful things to one other in the past. Consequently the solid friendship they all once shared has been tarnished and some things just cannot be forgiven so easily._

" _'Arry what are you doin' out here, mate?" Ron whined out as he stumbled drunkenly out onto the terrace behind the previous two occupants._

" _Just catching up with Hermione; nothing too impressive," Harry smiled rather awkwardly. Hermione wasn't fooled for a second by his forced smile though. She could tell Harry was becoming cautious and uncomfortable being in a space with the other two trio members._

 _Ron scowled and trudged his feet forward, "What are you doing with that know it all?" He asked with a sneer lacing his voice._

" _Don't worry about it, Ron. Let's just get you home before Lavender comes looking for us." Harry got out quickly. After acknowledging Hermione with a curt nod goodbye, he led them out before Ron could say any more damaging remarks he'd only end up regretting later._

"I don't know." Hermione answered Hagrid, trying desperately to cover any trance of emotion in her voice. She then tacked on a final goodbye and swiftly resumed fleeing his place.

The minute she cleared the area of Hagrid's home, Hermione forced the last minute of recollection out from her mind and started plotting the next step in her plan. The only options now are to either search desperately around Britain in hope for more creature experts or to seek out the expertise of Luna in America. The problems with the last choice though are firstly she didn't know where in America Luna was, and secondly they didn't exactly get along when they went to school together. Hermione even added onto the bullying the girl suffered from back then by calling her Loony Lovegood. So its relatively safe to say Luna could easily downright refuse to help her out.

Quickly growing frustrated with this train of thought Hermione decided to trudge out of Hogwarts and apparate back towards her work to consult Croaker on what to do next.

* * *

 **A/N:** To the people who read this chapter before all my latest edits and thus had to reread it... I'm sorry. I got very sleep deprived and went extra critical on this chapter. Then the perfectionism in me made me post it.

To the people who just now decided to read this story: Welcome! This is going to be a wild ride and I hope you stick with me until the end. I have a issue with updating regularly (which I intend to fix) but I hope that doesn't put you off. We don't have enough Luna x Hermione stories in the world so I hope to deliver on this rare package deal.

 _ **-RoxyRoxas1313**_


End file.
